Dino,
If you're sufficiently interested I'll try to dig up the numbers (and I hope you aren't because I'm going fishing for a few days), but the economic impact of sport fishing is greater by a very substantial margin to the state's economy than commercial fishing. These are not "per fish" numbers, but overall economic value. There was a study done by a UW economist in the '70s which concluded that the state would be far better off if commercial fishing were eliminated entirely and the fishery managed strictly for sport.

[This message has been edited by Preston Singletary (edited 01-23-2001).]